DixPix Photographs

SOUTHERN CORDILLERA

Despite the variety of habitats within or flanking the Southern Cordillera, the number of large mammal species is not great, and some of these are rare and in danger of extinction. Those found in Chile are covered by Sharon Chaster's WILDLIFE GUIDE TO CHILE. The writer is not aware of comparable texts to other regions. The most numerous large mammals roaming the open spaces of the Altiplano and the Argentine steppes are related to camels and collectively called 'camelids'. The tame members of this group are fairly well known abroad as Llamas and Alpacas, being now raised widely for their wool. The two wild species are the Guanaco and the Vicuña.